Priscila Uppal's Acclaimed Memoir Hits the Stage at Factory Theatre!

After a whirlwind literary season with her hit memoir, Projection: Encounters with My Runaway Mother (Thomas Allen), Priscila Uppal will start a whole new journey with an adapted theatrical version of the book.

The adaptation, with the new title 6 Essential Questions, will run at Toronto's venerable Factory Theatre from March 1-30, 2014.

Priscila wrote the adaption, her first work for the stage, adding to her genres of poetry, prose and academic writing.

6 Essential Questions is the story of Renata as she travels to Brazil to see the mother that abandoned her when she was five years old. In Rio, Renata reconnects with her mother and discovers that, well, some dreams are meant to die.

“How do I tell my brother that yes, yes, I found our mother and she’s about as lovely as an electrical storm when you’re naked and tied to the highest tree in the county?”

A poetic, powerful carnival of theatre, the play is directed by Leah Cherniak, co-founder of Theatre Columbus and well known for work with new Canadian plays and the genre of physical theatre. Mina James (Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth, Shakespeare in High Park, Canadian Stage) plays Renata, Elizabeth Saunders (In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play, Tarragon Theatre) plays her mother, Maggie Huculak (Divisadero, Necessary Angel Theatre Company; Travesties, Soulpepper) plays her grandmother and Richard Zeppieri (Lady in the Red Dress, fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company) plays her uncle.

Called “Canada’s Coolest Poet” by Time Out London, Priscila is an internationally celebrated poet and the 2012 Canadian Olympics poet laureate. Born in Ottawa, Uppal currently lives in Toronto and teaches at York University, unless she is writing at a retreat in Barbados. She is an active and avid sports fan; she runs, plays tennis and basketball, and fences among others. Priscila created and held the positions of Poet-in-Residence for Canadian Athletes Now for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the 2011 Rogers Cup.

If you're a library supporter and an avid reader, the Book Lover's Ball just might be your ideal event. A black tie fundraiser for the Toronto Public Library, the February 6 gala will gather more than fifty of the country's finest authors with bibliophile philanthropists to support one of the busiest urban library systems in North America.

As the ball approaches, we are thrilled to be speaking with several of the guest authors about their books and their writing and of course, the most important question of all — what they're going to wear!